A noted social
reformer, Dix became the Union's Superintendent of Female Nurses during the Civil War. The
soft spoken yet autocratic crusader had spent more than 20 years working for improved
treatment of mentally ill patients and for better prison conditions. A week after the
attack on Fort Sumter, Dix, at age 59, volunteered her services to the Union and received
the appointment in June 1861 placing her in charge of all women nurses working in army
hospitals. Serving in that position without pay through the entire war, Dix quickly molded
her vaguely defined duties.
She convinced skeptical military officials,
unaccustomed to female nurses, that women could perform the work acceptably, and then
recruited women. Battling the prevailing stereo types-and accepting many of the common
prejudices herself-Dix sought to ensure that her ranks not be inundated with flighty and
marriage-minded young women by only accepting applicants who were plain looking and older
than 30. In addition, Dix authorized a dress code of modest black or brown skirts and
forbade hoops or jewelry.
Even with these strict and arbitrary
requirements, relaxed somewhat as the war persisted, a total of over 3,000 women served as
Union army nurses. Called "Dragon Dix" by some, the superintendent was stern and
brusque, clashing frequently with the military bureaucracy and occasionally ignoring
administrative details. Yet, army nursing care was markedly improved under her leadership.
Dix looked after the welfare of both the nurses,
who labored in an often brutal environment, and the soldiers to whom they ministered,
obtaining medical supplies from private sources when they were not forthcoming from the
government. At the war's conclusion, Dix returned to her work on behalf of the mentally
ill.